Near the tail end of his tenure with the Denver Nuggets, Jusuf Nurkic began to develop a negative public perception from his inner dealings with the team.
One of which centered around talk of it getting to the point of him reportedly leaving the arena during the middle of a game, after head coach Mike Malone decided to give him several consecutive DNPs because of his poor body language and behavior.
During a recent interview with Ben Golliver of SI.com, Nurkic denied that ever took place during his time with the Nuggets.
“People assume I had an attitude problem and people like to make up stories that paint me as a bad guy,” he explained. “Once I asked for a trade, there were even more rumors that I wasn’t happy. But I shouldn’t be happy! No one in that situation should be happy. I put in the hard work to play and someone was holding me down.”
Nurkić also denied that he ever left the arena during a game.
“I don’t know where that came from,” he said. “I can’t change the whole world’s opinion. Ask anyone who has played with me and they will say the same thing: I’m a funny dude, I work and I have never had a problem with one of my teammates in my life.”
Although Nurkic was clearly not happy with how his situation in Denver had unfolded, the questioning of commitment to the team has pulled at some heartstrings. At the same time, there is no need in his mind to try to convince anyone that he didn't do that.
Even if this occurred or not, the Nuggets decided to pull the trigger on a deal to send Nurkic to the Trail Blazers last February, which has worked out well for both sides. The 23-year-old has become a centerpiece of the puzzle in the frontcourt for Portland and has quickly found much comfort in his new surroundings.
The only thing that Nurkic can really do now is look back at that time as a learning experience for his NBA career moving forward.
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